


lovers live a little longer (you and me, we've got a chance to live twice)

by misura



Category: Tru Calling
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Episode Tag, F/M, Post-Finale, Pre-Het
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-13 00:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12971454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "You want me to leave, I'm leaving. See, I'm not a pushy guy."Tru scoffed. "Unless, of course, someone needs to get pushed off a building, right?""That was actually mean," said Jack. "I think you may have hurt my feelings."





	lovers live a little longer (you and me, we've got a chance to live twice)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mustlovemustypages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustlovemustypages/gifts).



> look, I REALLY WANTED THEM TO KISS! but it just wouldn't happen, so um, here's a pre-het, post-canon treat that doesn't resolve anything. I hope you'll still get a kick out of it (and also that someone else did write you fic where these two hook up).
> 
> starts directly post-S2 finale.

"Quick question," said Jack. "It so happens my landlord just kicked me out of my apartment. You wouldn't happen to know of a place I could stay, right?"

Tru grinned. "What'd you do? Throw one wild late-night party too many? Neighbors complaining about the noise?"

For a moment, she thought he was going to take the bait and spill something personal, something that she might one day be able to use against him. In the end, though, he simply shrugged.

"Worth a try, anyway. Merry Christmas, Tru. Let's do this again next year, what do you say?"

"Do the words 'bite me' sound familiar?"

"See, you say that now, but those definitely aren't the two words I'm going to remember you telling me," said Jack. "I'll see you when I see you. Or not."

"Oh, you'll see me, all right. Trust me."

 

Things went back to what passed for 'normal' after that - as they should, Tru told herself. Harrison'd joked about sleeping with the enemy, but that had been all it was, or rather: all it hadn't been.

_Nobody should be alone on Christmas Eve_ , and for a few hours, she'd been okay pretending that there weren't people out there who were more alone than they ought to be, because Jack Harper had decided that fate didn't give second chances.

"Way I look at it, you're five for oh," she told him, finding him at her favorite restaurant, sitting in her favorite booth. (She told herself she didn't mind, which was true, that every minute Jack wasted on finding things out about her was a minute he wasn't spending planning someone's death, which was also true.) "Pretty bad month, huh?"

"Look at you, all smug and happy," said Jack. "Sure, the universe might be seconds away from turning itself inside out thanks to your meddling, but hey, who cares? At least this city still has its - what was it again? Sixth most favorite hot dog vendor?"

Tru rolled her eyes. A waitress arrived, bearing coffee and breakfast. "Last time I checked, the universe was doing just fine. You ordered this?"

"You're welcome," said Jack. "But seriously, Tru, how would you know how the universe is doing?"

Tru shrugged. "It's still here, isn't it? And Jensen's doing fine, thanks for asking."

"Ah yes. Jensen. The boyfriend." Jack sipped his coffee. "Honestly, I don't see the attraction."

"Friend, actually. Not that it's any of your business," said Tru.

Jack shook his head. "You save a man's life, and you don't even get some 'thank you' nookie. What is this world coming to? Of course, if memory serves, you gave _me_ more or less the same treatment. So maybe it's karma."

" 'Thank you' nookie?" Tru arched an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say here?"

"You know, I just wondered the same thing," said Jack. "Forget it. So you're single, so what? Lots of attractive soon-to-be corpses out there. You'll meet someone, I'm sure."

"And you'll do what you can to see them dead?"

Jack put down his cup and got up. "I'll do my job, sure. Someone has to. You have a good day now."

 

It was hard, after, to pinpoint the exact moment when things started to change.

Harrison almost-died two times, and Dad almost-fired him five times. Davis almost-went on a date with Carrie as many as six times, before Tru finally succeeded in helping him get one underway just right.

Jensen - Jensen got weird on her. Not almost-weird, not 'hey, there are aspects to your personality I didn't know about before' weird. Just _weird_ weird.

"It's like he's obsessed with death, or something," was how Avery put it, which wasn't wrong, exactly, even if Tru happened to know for a fact that it was.

Not that Jack'd run into her and Jensen all that often, but when he did, 'obsession' definitely wasn't the word she'd use to describe Jensen's attitude. 'Dislike', probably, which was fair enough, given that Tru was none too fond of Jack herself - one Christmas Eve did not even out a year of antagonism, of Jack actively trying to kill people, no matter his reasons or justifications.

"I don't think your boyfriend likes me very much," said Jack.

Tru wondered when the restaurant had become their neutral meeting ground. "Jensen's not my boyfriend."

"In that case, allow me to be frank," Jack said. "Tru, I don't think I like our boyfriend very much. Want to maybe, I don't know, find a new one before someone, namely you, ends up getting hurt?"

Tru wondered why she'd even bothered sitting down. "Are you threatening me?"

Jack looked faintly offended. "Tru. I'm wounded. Would I ever do that?"

"You might call it a warning," said Tru.

"I might call it a warning," Jack agreed. "In this case, though, how'd you like the term 'accurate prediction of the near-future'? 'Professional assessment'?"

Tru snorted.

"Sometimes I really do wonder why I even bother," said Jack.

"Why do you?"

"Because in spite of everything, I really do like you, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Obviously."

Jack left. Tru wondered why the brother who loved her always ducked out on the bill, while the guy who was her opposite, nemesis and the bane of her existence actively seemed to avoid giving her even the opportunity to pay for his coffee.

Possibly, she decided, it was a guy thing.

 

"Well, he's not wrong," Davis said, when she'd reported the conversation to him, less in the hopes of getting a second opinion and more in the hopes of getting unequivocal agreement. "Jensen's changed."

"So what?" Tru shrugged. "People change. _You've_ changed, since you and Carrie started going out." In the wardrobe department, at least. "Change isn't a bad thing."

"One might say the same thing about death," said Davis.

"Well." Tru considered. "I suppose Jack isn't _evil_. I mean, it's not like he's sadistic or mean or anything. Just, you know, wrong. Misguided."

"Interesting choice of words." Davis sat up a little straighter. "Also, not quite where I was going with this, but fine. Jack's misguided, you say. Which naturally leads us to the question - "

"Huh," said Tru. "You think someone's _told_ him he should kill people?"

"Always two, there are," Davis said. "An apprentice, and a master."

"What?"

"Star Wars," said Davis. "Sorry. Just - I don't get a lot of chances to quote that. So, want me to look into it? I mean, it's got to be someone he met shortly after his near-death experience."

"Sure," Tru said. "Why not? We might learn something useful."

 

"Well," said Jack. "This is a little awkward." He was balancing two bags of groceries while patting his pockets, presumably looking for his key.

" _You're_ my new neighbor?"

"I was going to send you an invitation to my house-warming party," Jack said. "Or, fine, I wasn't. I mean, it's not much of a party when it's just two people, is it?"

"Maybe if you wanted friends, you should stop killing people."

"Cute," said Jack. "Look, one neighbor to another, can you get the door? I just - "

"Sorry. You're on your own," said Tru.

"Oh, come on," Jack said, and then one of the bags slipped, and -

 

//cornflowers and _hooked on a feeling_ and chocolate cookies, fresh from the oven, crumbling - a door, opening, and a picture of two girls and a boy, smiling on a beach and wet grass and staring up at the stars, winking out one by one//

 

"Well," said Jack. "This is a little awkward."

"Oh please," Tru said. "Like I've never seen a half-naked guy before. You're right, I might swoon."

"Thanks. That's my vanity, crushed, right there. You come in, you make the coffee."

Tru hesitated for all of three seconds. "Deal."

 

"I don't like this," Davis said, glaring at Jack through the glass. Jack smiled and gave him a friendly wave. "And I definitely don't like _him_."

Tru shrugged. "Keep your enemies closer, right? C'mon, Davis. Do you know what this means? There's someone else out there. Someone like me."

"Didn't we have this exact same conversation the first time you found out about Jack?" Davis asked. "Because I hate to remind you, but that didn't turn out so well."

"I already got the lecture from Jack," said Tru.

"What lecture would this be, precisely?" Davis looked curious.

"The 'oh, Tru, you're just so awesome at saving people that it takes two reapers to try and keep you in check'." Tru considered for a few moments. "Okay, so when you put it like that, it sounds kind of bad. But whoever it is, someone asked them for help. That's a good sign, right?"

"Right," said Davis. "Assuming whoever it is stepped up and actually tried to help. Is actually trying to help. Now. As we speak. So how're we going to find out who they are?"

 

The long and short answer turned out to be: _we don't_.

"Well, can't win them all," Jack said. "Want me to give you a ride home?"

"I can walk," said Tru. "I don't need a ride."

"I'm aware of the fact that your legs are in working order. I'm being friendly. And, if you must know, just a little bit worried."

"About me?" Tru grinned. "That's so sweet. I didn't know you cared - oh, wait. You don't care. About anything or anyone other than your job."

Jack gave her a look. "About _me_. And, by extension, all of humanity. This isn't - I know what I am, Tru, and I know what you are, and I know that this is not supposed to happen. You and me - we're it. The two of us, we're the full roster. Whoever's out there, they're bad news. For both of us."

"You can't stand the thought of there being someone else like me out there, can you?"

Jack's expression came close to being genuinely pained. "Tru. Trust me. There's no one else like you. People like me, now, we're a dime a dozen. People like you, not so much. Let me give you a damn ride."

Tru rolled her eyes. "Well, if you put it like that, how could I refuse such a gallant offer?"

 

Four weeks, six rewind days, all of them hers.

"A fluke?" Davis suggested. "Just - you know, most people don't spend a lot of time around dead bodies. Maybe their powers only activated that one time."

Tru sighed. Her head hurt. She had three papers to write in the next two days, none of them even close to done. It was a pity, really, that she couldn't hang on to things on rewind days, or she might have gotten herself a full extra day.

"Maybe there's actually lots of people who can do what you do," Davis went on. "Maybe even - well, no. I suppose I would have noticed something by now. Still. I don't think we should put too much faith in what Jack has to say about it."

"Agreed," said Tru.

"Speaking of Jack," Davis said. "How's the neighbor thing working out? Knocked on your door to borrow a cup of sugar yet? Because I hear some guys do that. When they're, you know. Interested."

"I'd rather kiss a - " Tru shook her head. "Nope, sorry. Can't think of anything more disgusting."

"Well, technically, when you say you'd rather kiss A than B, A can be anything _less_ disgusting than B, not more."

"Davis. I'm single and happy about it, okay? Just because you and Carrie are talking about moving in together, that doesn't mean - "

Davis raised his hands. "Fine, fine. Point taken."

 

Of course, Jack chose that same night to actually do knock on her door.

"Let me guess. You want to borrow some sugar?"

"Don't tell me I missed a rewind," said Jack. Joking, obviously, except that he sounded a little uncertain.

"You didn't," said Tru. "You can sleep easy tonight. No rewinds, no kills."

"Is that what you tell yourself on the normal days?" Jack asked, walking in and following her to the kitchen. "That it's a good day because nobody needed you to save them?"

"No," Tru replied. "Good days are when I saved someone. Bad days are when I failed to save someone."

"And normal days are all the ones in between?"

Tru shrugged. "How much sugar do you need?"

"Tru. I don't need any damn sugar. I was just, you know, curious," said Jack. "You've got a nice place here. It's very you."

"Thanks. How about you leave now?"

"You want me to leave, I'm leaving. See, I'm not a pushy guy."

Tru scoffed. "Unless, of course, someone needs to get pushed off a building, right?"

"That was actually mean," said Jack. "I think you may have hurt my feelings."

"I - " Tru remembered his face, after, and his response when she'd told him he should have been the one lying on the pavement, cold and dead and broken. "I'm sorry. I - "

"Hey," said Jack. "I'm not saying I didn't deserve it. I'm not proud of what I do, Tru. I just - I thought you knew that by now. I'm not a killer. I'm simply the guy fate sends when it's time for someone to go."

"And I'm the girl fate sends when it's _not_ time for someone to go," Tru said.

"Not much common ground, is there? Oh well, I hope we can still be friends." Jack grinned. "Sweet dreams, Tru."

 

The essays got handed in - none of them as good as she'd have liked, as good as she knew she might have written them if only she'd had more time.

Still, compared to a life saved, the difference between getting a very good grade and one that was merely average hardly signified. Like the difference between having friends and having good friends, or having people vaguely recognize her and having people greet her by name.

Tru wondered, sometimes, if that was how it had been for Mom, if everything else in her life had been muted, faded, rendered less important by being held next to that impossible standard. 

It didn't excuse for Dad's behavior, of course. He'd known what he was getting into. More or less.

All things considered, Tru thought it was probably just well Mom had never told him about her powers - but then, if Mom hadn't even felt able to trust the man she'd loved, if she'd spent her entire life keeping that part of her life from him, what sort of life had she had? What kind of chance did Tru have, of a life not spent in hiding?

"Tru." Jack looked surprised and a little bit wary. "Bad dream?"

"Let's say I'm sleep-walking," she said. "You mind?"

"Hey, mi casa es su casa," said Jack, moving out of her way. "Or, in plain English, you're welcome any time, neighbor to neighbor."

"Reaper to savior," Tru said. There wasn't much to the apartment. A shelf of books. A couch. A table. A TV. A bed.

"See, and here I was thinking you didn't like me. Drink? I haven't got much, but what I have is yours."

"Sure." Tru said down on the couch. "I see you're spending a lot of money on interior decoration."

"You should see my car collection," said Jack. He'd gotten two beers.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" Tru asked, accepting one of them.

"I just live here," Jack said. "It's not permanent, and it's not important. I sleep here, I eat here, and sometimes I watch a bit of TV here. Everything important happens out there."

"No offense, but that's kind of sad."

"Why would that offend me?" said Jack. "You want to cling to the illusion that you can have a normal life, that's on you. I'd wish you the best of luck, but the truth is, all the luck in the world isn't going to make that possible. People like you and me, we don't get normal."

"My mother did," Tru said. "Marriage, kids, the whole thing."

"A loving husband," said Jack, and there was something just a little bit off about his tone, as if he knew -

"She loved him." Tru swallowed. "It wasn't her fault that he was an asshole who cheated on her. Don't you dare suggest - "

"I wasn't suggesting anything," Jack said. "I'm sure your mother was a wonderful woman. Wrong-headed, like you are, but well-intentioned. Also like you are. And then some asshole killed her, and that sucks."

"Funny thing, but I actually came here because I hoped that talking to you would make me feel better."

"That _is_ a funny thing," Jack agreed. "All right, how's this. You're brave. You're, hands down, the strongest person I know. You're smart, you've got a great sense of humor, and if we weren't natural enemies, you'd definitely be at the top of my list of people I'd want to spend more time with."

Tru took a swig of beer. "Sounds like someone's got a crush."

"I guess." Jack shrugged. "But hey. Something to cheer you up next time I beat you. I may not be a very nice guy, but from the bottom of my heart, I'm _your_ not very nice guy."

"Right after your job," Tru said.

"The job is the job is the job," said Jack. "Nothing I can do about it. There's not exactly a retirement plan, Tru. We do this until we die."

 

"Well," said Davis. "Sounds like the two of you had a fun night."

Tru shook her head. "If Mom did what I do, what happened to her Jack?"

"You're assuming she had one," said Davis. "Her killer, maybe?"

"If he was a reaper, he wouldn't have taken her life before her time," Tru said. "I mean, that's their whole thing, isn't it? Fate. The big plan."

"Speaking of big plans." Davis cleared his throat. "Do you think it's too early for me to ask Carrie to marry me? It's just - I've got a good feeling about this, Tru."

"It's a trap," said Tru. "See? I can quote Star Wars, too. Just ... I think it's a little too soon. Take your time. No rush, right?"

Davis frowned. "I really don't think that was the most appropriate quote for the situation."

 

"Tru!" Jensen looked ... happy. Excited. _Alive_ , which was a good thing, Tru reminded herself. "Hey! Talked to any interesting corpses lately?"

"Sure," Tru said. "I guess. How'd you do on your essays?"

"Bah." Jensen waved. "Who cares about some essay? Fact, I'm thinking about quitting. Giving the whole thing up. Who wants to be a doctor, anyway?"

"Only just about everyone in our class?"

Jensen laughed. Tru tried not to think he was overdoing it. "Good one. Laters!"

 

It stuck with her, for some reason.

She'd saved Jensen's life. Before she'd done so, he'd wanted to become a doctor. He might have saved people's lives as a doctor, influenced people's lives for the better by diagnosing them and sending them on to get the right treatment.

If he now chose not to become a doctor, did she have the right to disapprove? Did saving his life give her the right to demand he made something of himself?

"Tough questions," said Jack. "And, need I point out, questions you would not need to be asking yourself if only you'd let me do my job. Thus, the blame is yours and yours alone."

"Thanks, Jack. You always know just what to say to cheer me up."

Jack shrugged. "I aim to please."

"Liar," said Tru. "You aim to kill."

"Shall we say it depends on the target?" Jack said. "How do you like my new wallpaper, by the way?"

"It's nice," said Tru. "What happened to you not planning to stick around?"

"I figured that was no reason not to try and make this place look nice, just in case I got visitors," Jack said. "And who showed up that same evening but you. I got to ask, is this going to become our thing now? Fight by day, drink beer and talk by night?"

"Two times don't make it a 'thing'," said Tru.

"Wishful thinking on my part," Jack said.

 

Two times became three, four, five times. She stopped counting after that.

It wasn't that she suddenly _liked_ Jack, she told herself. It was simply that he knew her secret and, unlike Davis, actually also knew what it was like. She didn't, couldn't trust him with details about the lives she wanted to save, but anything else, Jack either knew already or didn't care about.

Talking to Jack was relaxing. She didn't need to be careful around Jack, or lie, or dance around what it was she did. She didn't need to explain why she'd left in a hurry last time.

She didn't need to be Tru Davies, Totally Normal Person, or Tru Davies, Slightly Complicated Fellow Student. She could just be Tru, who worked at the city's morgue, ready for dead people to turn their heads and ask her for help.

"Tru." Davis looked ... odd. Like he was relieved and not relieved at the same time. "It's - I don't know what to say. Sorry, not sorry. I guess - I got the impression the two of you had become sort of close."

"Who - " There weren't really all that many people it could be, of course.

"I - " Davis hesitated. "I suppose he might ask you for help. And I'm not - I'd never say you shouldn't help someone who asked for your help. Just. You know. Mixed feelings."

Tru swallowed. She'd saved Jensen, she reminded herself. She'd saved Davis. She'd saved Harrison.

"Tru."

_Two magical words_ , he'd said. _I want to hear you say them._

" _Save me._ "

Time rewound.

**Author's Note:**

> the new reaper in town = Jensen
> 
> I came this close to making Jack rewind time to save Tru, rather than the other way around, but in the end, it just didn't feel like he was quite there yet. close, but not quite there.


End file.
